Ticklish Combat
by katistired
Summary: Lucius Fox stops by the Batcave for a mysterious addition to Bruce Wayne's combat training to reduce Bruce's stress.


_Authors' note:_

 _This story is based off Batman: The Telltale Series as I got inspired to write this story as I was playing the game. Hope you guys enjoy it nonetheless :)_

Working tirelessly to improve both his strength and coordination, Bruce Wayne dodged limbs trying to strike him, right and left. He managed to block a few hits before striking the robotic training dummies, stunning them for a second. The impact of where his fist made contact with the foam was calculated by a program, displaying an Augmented Reality screen on the dummies about the amount of force that Bruce applied, and which part of the body he had managed to hit. Lucius Fox, his trusty tech companion and assistant was the one who developed this entire training program, and Bruce was truly grateful for this as he could now better gauge where to effectively strike his enemies without breaking too many of their bones.

"Master Bruce, Lucius is here to pay you a visit." Alfred said, as he sets down a tray containing a soft towel and a glass of water on the small table on the side of the training pad. Speaking of the devil.

Coming out of the lift and walking to the training area, Lucius was carrying a silver briefcase. "Hello Alfred, and hi Bruce. I hope that I'm not being too intruding by showing up unannounced. Anyway, I've seen that you've been making use of the updated combat system. Is everything alright, or are there any points that you would like to bring up for improvement?"

"No, not at all, I was just about done with my training anyway; and the combat system's great, Lucius. I'm satisfied so far, but I'll let you know if I notice anything that could use some tinkering." Bruce smiled and wiped the beads of sweat he had on his face with the towel. Lucius always loved constructive criticism on his work, so that he could further improve his systems.

"That's great to hear, Bruce. Anyway, the reason I'm here is to install... some sort of addition to the training program."

"What kind of addition, Lucius?" Bruce prompted, curious.

"You'll see for yourself later, Bruce."

With that, Lucius set the silver briefcase on the floor and opened it. Inside, it contained papers and pens, most probably relating to Lucius's work. After a moment of fiddling around, he took out a thumb drive, went to the Batcomputer and plugged it in. A message showed after a few moments, signaling that the download was complete and the mysterious addition to the training program was ready to be executed.

"I know that you've just finished your training, but do you mind helping me test this out, Bruce?"

Bruce stepped into the trading pad once again. "Sure, ready when you are."

"One last question, Bruce. Are you ticklish?"

"Nope" Bruce beamed with confidence.

Lucius pressed a button, and the whirring of a machine can be heard. After a few moments, mechanical hands started rising out of the ground. They try to grab hold of Bruce, who dodged it. Two hands appeared behind him and grabbed hold of his sides while he was still distracted by what's infront of him. The hands started gently kneading Bruce's sides, making him yelp.

"Wha- Lucius! Why?"

"I just wanted to experiment with your sensitivity. Even though you can't be tickled in the Batsuit, its still good to be prepared. Think fast Bruce!" Lucius smiled, as he pressed another button as another pair of hands grabbed Bruce's legs and started making light motions at the back of his knee.

Bruce fell over, trying to resist the laughter trying to burst out of his system. The hands around his sides suddenly became much more intense, scratching at his skin while slowly moving closer to his stomach. Another pair of hands also came up and scratched at his underarms. He finally broke and laughed, his hands trying to block his sides and his belly from the mechanical hands.

"So much for not being ticklish. Alfred, where is Bruce most ticklish?" Lucius casually asked, teasing Bruce.

"A-Al! HAHA- PleaSe ddont!" Bruce said inbetween giggles and laughs.

"His ribs and neck are probably the most ticklish. I've got to make some tea for Lucius, so I'll leave you two alone." Alfred chuckled, walking out of the room.

The mechanical hands moved up to Bruce's ribs, scratching up and down, driving him insane. One more hand appeared out of the ground and made its way to his neck, gently scratching his collarbone to the side and the back of Bruce's neck. Bruce scrunched up his shoulders and his laughter became more higher pitched when the hand reaches a sweet spot.

"Please- stop! hhehehAiEE!"

The hands were tickling him all over now, from the back of his knee to his stomach to his underarms and his neck. Bruce was curled up into a ball and squirming, trying to fight off the hands. His face was turning red from laughing too hard. The program finally stopped after a few minutes, and Lucius and Alfred walked up to Bruce, helping him up.

"This... was- heh- unnecessary" Bruce said inbetween breaths, still feeling hypersensitive all over.

"Well, you're lucky that this segment isn't permanently etched into the combat system. You seemed way too stressed out of your mind, so I figured that I'll do something to make you laugh a little this week." Lucius smiled.

"Lucius is right, Bruce. It's good to see you laugh." Alfred said, while he sneakily places a hand on Bruce's neck, making Bruce stiffen a giggle.


End file.
